Immunization of Mice with Urease Vaccine Affords Protection against Helicobacter pylori Infection in the Absence of Antibodies and Is Mediated by MHC Class II–restricted Responses

We examined the roles of cell- and antibody-mediated immunity in urease vaccine–induced protection against Helicobacter pylori infection. Normal and knockout mice deficient in major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I, MHC class II, or B cell responses were mucosally immunized with urease plus Escherichia coli heat-labile enterotoxin (LT), or parenterally immunized with urease plus aluminum hydroxide or a glycolipid adjuvant, challenged with H. pylori strain X47-2AL, and H. pylori organisms and leukocyte infiltration in the gastric mucosa quantified. In an adjuvant/route study in normal mice, there was a direct correlation between the level of protection and the density of T cells recruited to the gastric mucosa. In knockout studies, oral immunization with urease plus LT protected MHC class I knockout mice [β₂-microglobulin (−/−)] but not MHC class II knockout mice [I-A^b (−/−)]. In B cell knockout mice [μMT (−/−)], vaccine-induced protection was equivalent to that observed in immunized wild-type (+/+) mice; no IgA⁺ cells were detected in the stomach, but levels of CD4⁺ cells equivalent to those in the wild-type strain (+/+) were seen. These studies indicate that protection of mice against H. pylori infection by immunization with the urease antigen is dependent on MHC class II–restricted, cell-mediated mechanisms, and antibody responses to urease are not required for protection.